Michael Conry Books

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : Small booklet published in 1990, consisting of 28 pages, contains a map showing the distribution of the grinding stones, which tempered slack from the Castlecomer coalmines and yellow clay for the use as a domestic fuel. It also described the state ...See this book

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : This book describes the history and folklore of edge-runner grinding stones, which were used mainly to mix culm (anthracite slack), sticky yellow clay and water so that the culm could be made into culm balls and burned in a 'raised hearth' (grate) as......See this book

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : This simple Quaker-style granite fence is a unique feature of the Carlow landscape - found nowhere else in the World. It was erected mainly as a decorative fence around gardens and between fields. It addition to describing the method of cleaving...See this book

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : Culm, the fine gritty and dusty by-product of anthracite mining, was used as a domestic and industrial fuel for almost 400 years in Ireland, and for even longer in other parts of the world. It was burned as a domestic fuel chiefly in the regions...See this book

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : The use of corn stands in Ireland in the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th centuries was closely linked with the arrival of the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) in 1722. The rat caused massive damage to stacks of corn that were kept over for the spring threshing....See this book

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : With almost 70% of the country underlain by granite bedrock, it is not surprising that granite has made a huge contribution to the geology, landscape and agriculture of Co. Carlow. It has shaped the very lives of the people who inhabited the country...See this book

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : This book outlines the history of picking bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) in Ireland from pre-Chrisitian times to the present day and the impact it made on the lives of people, especially in the areas where they were picked for export to Britain...See this book

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : This book describes the two types of animal-powered churning machines used to churn butter on the Castlecomer Plateau and their significantly higher density compared to the surrounding lowlands. It also describes an interesting manually-operated churning device discovered on the plateau.See this book

Author : Michael J. ConryDescription : This book outlines the history of the rabbit industry in Ireland, especially in the first half of the 20th century (and later) and the impact it made on the people involved.
In Ireland, the rabbit was an important source of meat for hundreds of thousands of Irish families throughout the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. At the same time it was an unmitigated pest of immense proportions on the farming community.
The rabbit was unique among small mammals as they formed the basis of an important industry in the 20th century. The introduction of the myxomatosis disease in 1954 decimated the industry creating havoc in all sectors of the business.See this book